Workshop to focus on survival kits

Participants will also have a chance to learn an assortment of disaster-related information

Residents can build three-day emergency survival kits valued at more than $30 each for only $5 during "Ashland is Ready" workshops planned Saturday in Ashland.

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Posted Sep. 5, 2013 at 2:00 AM

Posted Sep. 5, 2013 at 2:00 AM

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Residents can build three-day emergency survival kits valued at more than $30 each for only $5 during "Ashland is Ready" workshops planned Saturday in Ashland.

They can also learn about Ashland's reverse 911 service that alerts residents to emergencies, and hear about local disaster risks such as fires, floods and earthquakes.

Two identical workshop sessions are planned Saturday at the Historic Ashland Armory, 208 Oak St.

The first runs from 8 a.m. until noon, and the second lasts from 1 to 5 p.m.

Residents will build kits that they can take home. The kits will include supplies such as water, a first-aid kit, food bars, a flashlight, a distress banner, towelettes and tissues, a survival blanket, a whistle, a waterproof poncho, a dust mask and an emergency guide.

Ashland Fire & Rescue is encouraging residents to attend the workshops, which are sponsored by Asante Ashland Community Hospital, Shop'n Kart and the Ashland Community Emergency Response Team program.

Those sponsorships have allowed the cost of the emergency kits to be brought down to $5 each for residents, said Fire Chief John Karns.

Karns said he hopes the workshops will help the town build a "culture of preparedness."

Ashland has been hit with disasters in the past, including a 1997 flood that disabled the town's water system and the 2010 Oak Knoll fire that destroyed homes and forced an evacuation in southeast Ashland.

To register for a workshop, visit Ashland Fire Station No. 1 near the intersection of Main Street, Lithia Way and Siskiyou Boulevard across from the Ashland Public Library, or call 541-482-2770.